When Cross-Country Skiing Went Downhill

I grew up in Northern Ontario, Canada. In 1973, my hometown, the City of Timmins became an amalgamation of several communities, located in three townships as well as several unorganized townships. While the area is considered Northern Ontario, it is situated just south of the 49th parallel of latitude. This parallel forms the border and boundary between the United States and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, except southern Vancouver Island, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The amalgamation was pursued on two fronts. Each municipality’s cost, and thus taxpayer participation could be reduced through public works integration, while greater mining revenues would be realized from several mining operations located in the planned merger of unorganized townships. At that time, the reorganized city became Canada’s largest, relative to landmass. It is now in 7th place, so the financial benefits of amalgamation has caught on.

Point Pelee National Park, located near Leamington, Ontario, is considered the southernmost point of mainland Canada – it is positioned at 47½° - the same latitude as northern California.

Timmins weather is climatically affected by the northerly winds and environment of James Bay and Hudson Bay. The city is located in the Arctic Water Shed and winters, at times, can be brutal. Yet, in my youth, there were never any school closures resulting from severe winter weather. That is certainly not the case now. I have wondered if this is because had the weather become worse, it would prove not to be a good case for the verity of climate change, or the result of more contemporary and recent safety measures.

One of the municipalities swallowed up in the subject merger was the town of Schumacher with its 1200 residents at the time of amalgamation. Despite its size it hosted, and still does, the largest hockey arena in the entire area – constructed in 1938 by one of the area’s mining magnates, it is a scaled-down version of the famed Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario.

While I live in the United States, some 1500 air miles west-southwest of my hometown and even further in winter, I maintain contact with acquaintances there. One of these was the late amateur historian of the Schumacher - Ted Vail passed away relatively young, and I will miss his efforts in historical research.

Reflecting on his service to his beloved community made me think of another Schumacher, thus I bring the tale of Gus Schumacher, age 23, a noted and awarded American cross-country skier who resides and trains in Anchorage, Alaska. Mr. Schumacher was invited, by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee to provide expert testimony on the impact of climate change on the skiing and recreation industry.

While it was obvious that Mr. Schumacher was there to provide witness, and his encounter with a warming climate, such as a youthful 23-year-old has personally undergone or experienced. My first advice would have been for Schumacher to vacate Anchorage where trade winds off of the Pacific Ocean can easily warm coastal areas, even in winter, and move to the chillier Alaskan climes of interior Fairbanks.

Haplessly and helplessly for Mr. Schumacher, John Kennedy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana sat at that committee meeting and obliterated the witness’s testimony by asking him relevant questions on climate change. The first was what CO2 was and how much of it was in the atmosphere.

When asked what CO2 was, Mr. Schumacher responded that carbon dioxide was a gas and could go no further, other than to say it was a “huge part of our atmosphere” – at one point claiming 25% in total. However, rather than reassemble the entire ill-informed content and context of the interview, it can be viewed when clicking the Daily Mail article linked here. the article comes with a 6:23 video accurately illustrating the ‘expert’ witness’ testimony as totally uninformed and uneducated on the subject.

Gus Schumacher should continue his skiing pursuits without embarrassment; however, the Democrat Party and especially Sheldon Whitehouse should hang their heads in shame for putting a young Mr. Schumacher in this most awkward of situations and high profile appearances.

Moreover though, what this all proves is that the majority of the people, especially the young unquestioningly take and accept whatever the leftist media throws at them without further thought, research, or reflection. This includes anthropogenic climate change and many other political and social issues.